Charlie: Every game is a battle at this level

Charlie Mulgrew says the opening two games of the season have shown how tough the Championship is, but feels Rovers deserve more than what they have on the board ahead of Saturday's trip to Hull City.

Mulgrew of course has experience of the level during his first campaign with Rovers, but he believes the division is getting tougher every season, and thinks this one will be one of the most open campaigns ever in the second tier.

“There are a lot of clubs in the Championship with an eye on promotion," the skipper said to TalkSport. "There are all sorts of possibilities and that’s the beauty of this league. We have an eye on it too, but it’s a tough league.

"We could have easily had six points so far but we have two, and it could just have just as easily been none. It’s such a competitive league and I’m sure a lot of teams have an eye on going up.

"We’re on a high after promotion; we know it will be difficult but we’ll take each game as it comes, I know everyone says it but that’s the case. Let’s see where we are at Christmas time."

Rovers had a gruelling pre-season schedule over the summer, which included a rigorous week-long trip to Austria prior to tough tests against the likes of Hibernian, Liverpool and Everton.

And the 32-year-old knows just how important the early preparation will be for Tony Mowbray's squad.

“It’s massive, when you have two games in a week it’s important. If you can get games into the legs early on, it keeps you going for the season. The first few weeks are huge, if you can get the strength into your legs, it stays with you and plays a big part in this league," he added.

"It’s all about fitness and lifestyle but we have great fitness coaches here and won’t have that as an excuse, we’ll make sure we’re at our maximum for each game.”

Don't forget, Rovers are back in league action on Saturday at Hull City. You can back the lads by purchasing your tickets here.